


Grian's One Life

by bishipsaremyships



Category: Hermitcraft, Minecraft (Video Game), One Life Modded SMP
Genre: Background Relationships, Crossover, F/M, Gen, Heavy Angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-15
Updated: 2020-05-09
Packaged: 2020-05-12 11:01:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 17,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19227844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bishipsaremyships/pseuds/bishipsaremyships
Summary: Grian is a player of the Hermitcraft server, just spending his days flying around with his elytra, and he thought he'd left his previous life behind years ago.However, when a deadly mystery from his past rises in the server, he is forced to contact the people he'd abandoned for help.Will he make it out of the situation alive or will he waste his one life to protect his friends, new and old alike?





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer:
> 
> I know Grian isn't a part of the One Life server, but he and Scott are friends, so this crossover does have some basis.
> 
> Also there may be some people from my One Life discord who already know some things from this story. No spoilers, guys! Looking at you very specifically, Peanut!

The sun begins to rise over the server, birds chirping and a gentle wind blowing through the trees, taking leaves on journies to places they'd never have seem otherwise. The feint smell of smoke and fresh rain curled around anyone within the wind's grasp. All was calm and serene as people in the village begin to awaken and go about their days, smiling off at friends they pass along the way and talking softly amongst themselves.

This serenity was broken in an instant when all of the communicators in the village go off in unison, startling even the most hardened hermit.

_> iJevin: @everyone we've got something weird at the shopping district, guys_

Grian, the newest hermit, whom had been sat on the roof of his ever-expanding house in the 1.14 village, looks around confused, making eye contact with False down on the streets in front of his home.

The blonde woman shrugs, pushing her communicator into her pocket before taking off running towards the Nether portal.

Quickly, Grian follows her lead, pushing himself off his roof and rolling his shoulders to activate his elytra, straight through the portal and into the hellish dimension of the Nether.

The long ice trail to the hub passes like a second as Grian's heart races with anxiety, fearing what Jevin found.

Grian stumbles out of the portal outside iTrade, following the flock of hermits to where shouting could be heard across the district in front of his pickle shop. The dirty blonde male gently pushes through the crowd to find a single sign with an iron axe slammed into the top.

"A man that lives in a shroud of mystery, with a singular life to call his own. One of you knows who I am." Ren reads out to everyone, his eyebrows drawn together in confusion.

Grian's heart sputters before dropping into his stomach and his blood runs cold when he realizes what this is about.

"Hey, dude, you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost." Iskall whispers to him, a comforting hand gently set on the Brit's shoulder.

Grian absentmindedly shakes his head, fumbling for his rockets and gripping them tightly.

"I might just have..." Grian mutters, his voice full of fear, wavering and wobbling as he quickly takes off, spamming rockets into the air to boost himself higher and higher into the atmosphere.

He ignores his fellow hermits shouting for him to come back until he can no longer hear it over the hissing of the wind over his elytra, the flutter of his hair whipping around on top of his head, and the rush of blood in his ears.

He stumbles a landing into his base, the once familiar air standings stagnant as he rushes towards his chests, digging through the mess he curses himself for making as he struggles to find what he so desperately needs right now.

There, in the bottom of that yellow shulker box, is the faded red case of his old communicator from years before he'd even thought of where he currently is. The stickers of TNT and heart containers are mostly faded and peeling and the dark screen is cracked, a testament to its age and all the violence the poor device had gone through.

Grian's mouth goes dry and his stomach twists as he holds the power button, the screen lighting up as the device turns on slowly.

"Come on, come on!" He exclaims, nervously glancing up at his base's entrances as he sits down on the edge of his bed.

Finally, his old communicator turns on all the way, a billion and one notifications rolling in as he rush-scrolls towards the contacts app.

His finger hovers over the contact information of an old friend, the picture surely outdated by now, wondering if he might just be overeacting to something might not even be related to them.

He shakes his head.

No, this is too much of coincidence for it to not be something.

He taps the picture, a call beginning immediately.

After a few moments of ringing and Grian nervously biting his lip as he hopes and prays that his old friend will pick up, the line clicks.

"Um, 'ello?" A male voice with a Scottish accent answers.

"Erm, hey, Scott... Long time, no see, right...?" Grian asks albeit a bit awkwardly.

The line goes silent again to the point that Grian pulls the communicator away from his ear to make sure he wasn't hung up on.

"Sc-Scott...?"

"Grian, holy shit! It's been years since you left us behind and that's all you can say?!" The man on the other end shouts, obviously very angry.

Grian winces, but doesn't even try to defend himself. He knows he's in the wrong here.

"What do you want? I doubt you called to check on us all after so long." Scott huffs.

"I think Mystery Man found me on my server." Grian says simply, hugging himself with bated breath.

"Wait, you mean THE Mystery Man?! Like, the guy that killed Kim and Dylan in season one?! How do you know?!" Scott asks, shuffling being heard in the background on his end of the call.

"There was a sign left in the shopping district with a riddle on it. The sign it was left on was driven into the ground with an iron axe, the same kind that was at the scenes of both Kim and Dylan's deaths." Grian explains, getting up off his bed to pace between his two tube farms.

Scott sighs, mumbling something to someone.

"Alright, I'll see if I can't get Yammy and Lizzie to make a portal to your location. We'll try to be there as soon as we can be."

And the line goes dead

Grian sighs shakily, leaning up against the potato tube, the cool glass pressing against his neck, raising slight goosebumps.

"I was right, they do hate me." He murmurs to himself, closing his eyes against the harsh sunlight beating through the windows of his base.

The soft hum of the observers in the opposite tube farm and the chatter of the villagers in the farm behind him settles his thoughts, grounding his mind into the present rather than letting his mind wander back to his past.

A pop of a rocket catches his attention and he looks up at his eastern entrance, only to see a certain mustached spoon fly in and crash downwards.

"Hey, Mumbo. Need some help there?" Grian snickers as he realizes that Mumbo is tangled up with his left foot stuck between two chests he'd landed against.

Mumbo flushes in embarrassment and nods. Grian snickers again, walking over and quickly yanking the taller man's foot out, causing him to stumble backwards for a moment before he catches his balance. Mumbo awkwardly smiles his appreciation before setting a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Are you alright, Grian? You seemed really shook up earlier."

Grian grimaces, looking down at his shoes. He takes a deep breath before looking back up at Mumbo's concerned eyes.

"I need to tell everyone something very important. Can you help me get everyone to meet outside my pickle shop again?" Grian asks.

Mumbo nods and the two take off.

* * *

 

Grian stands on a small noob pole made of spruce planks in front of the entrance to his pickle shop, a gaggle of hermits stood awkwardly in front of him, whispering softly amongst themselves and throwing glances up at him. Xisuma and Tango land at the edge of the group, the final two to arrive, allowing Grian to start his announcement.

"This morning, Jevin found this sign right here in front of the pickle shop. I have reason to believe the person who left this here is from my past." Grian starts.

A shocked murmur runs through the crowd. It's not often that people on the server talk about what lead them to being a hermit, so for Grian to volunteer information while still being sober is a surprise to most.

"The person who left this sign is extremely dangerous. On the server I lived on before this, he was a murdering menace and caused the deaths of many of my friends. I still miss them to this day..." Grian mumbles that last part to himself, but someone still seems to have heard him.

"Well, couldn't they just respawn, love?" Stress asks, fidgeting with the hem of her cardigan.

"No..." Grian looks away, remembering the crippling fear that he no longer has to deal with. "The server was set to hardcore mode."

Hermits gasp, but Grian waves them quiet.

"I know we have infinite respawns on here, but the Mystery Man is still a threat. He's not safe to allow him to live here. That's why I've called in some old friends of mine to help get rid of him."

As if on cue, his old communicator dings and he looks down, a single message sat on the screen.

_> Smajor1995: We'll almost on the way ._

"Speak of the Devil and he shalt appear." Grian weakly jokes. "I don't know exactly how many people are coming, but they're good people. They've dealt with the Mystery Man for years before me and years after me."

Trusting nods and words of affirmations trickle through the crowd.

The hermits begin to disperse a small bit, chattering nervously as Grian breaks his noob pole to stand on the ground with his friends.

Suddenly, a pink portal appears, startling everyone.

Seven figures walk out of the portal in varying degrees of disorientation, three male and four female.

"Guys, meet my old friends from my old server."


	2. Chapter 2

The woman with pink hair shakes her head, pressing a hand against her stomach.

"Server hopping never gets easier..." She grumbles.

The woman with dark brown hair and cat appendages nods in agreement, leaning up against the pink haired woman with a grimace.

"Uh, hey again, guys...!" Grian weakly calls, recoiling under the heated glares the entire group sends him.

Slowly, Xisuma approaches the newcomers, his left hand nervously twitching at his side.

"Hello, I'm X. I'm the admin of this server." He introduced himself, a small nervous twang to his words, extending his twitching hand towards the group and the other moving to hide behind his back.

The woman with cat ears takes his hand, shaking it gently.

"I'm Yammy, the admin from our server." She says with a warm smile and a gesture towards her group.

The short woman with bright red hair, the woman with purple hair that seems to sparkle like the stars, and the man with cyan hair wave in varying degrees of enthusiasm, the tall fox-man awkwardly shuffles in his place, the pink haired woman smiles, and the man in the Shrek hoodie nods a greeting.

_Such a strange group_ , Grian muses about his old friends, _but I suppose we are just as well here_.

Stress, ever excited to meet new people, pops up from behind X, her eyes sparkling with anticipation.

"My name is Stress Monsta! Can I ask what the rest your names are?" She asks, smiling widely.

The woman with sparkly purple hair chuckles, bringing a hand up to her chest.

"I'm Lauren and this is Scott. He's the worst." She jokes, slinging one arm around the shoulders of the cyan haired man who tries to squirm away with an indignant shout.

With a certified Mom Friend™ sigh, the pink haired woman pushes them apart.

"My name is LDShadowLady, but all my friends call me Lizzie." She says as she turns back to Stress.

"My name is Joel." The man in the Shrek hoodie introduces himself, wrapping an arm around Lizzie's waist with a small smile.

"Hi, I'm Shelby!" The redhead woman exclaims, waving excitedly.

"Uh, Callum." The fox-man says, picking a bit at the fur on his forearms.

Doc gently pushes up to the front of the crowd, standing next to Grian.

"So these are your old friends, huh?" The Frankenstein's creeper asks softly, his eyes scanning over the newcomers chatting with the hermits that dared to move closer to them.

Grian nods, chuckling as he watches Ren and Yammy scope each other out, Ren's wolf tail wagging happily while Yammy's cat ears press against her head in caution.

Scott, while smiling somewhat awkwardly at something Iskall says to him, makes eye contact with Grian. The two stare at each for a few moments before the cyan haired man bids a quick farewell to Iskall and makes a b-line for the dirty blonde Brit.

"So where's this sign you told me about?" Scott whispers.

Silently, Grian shows him the sign in front of the pickle shop. The chatter of the crowd fades to the background as Scott crouches in front of the sign, his hand running over the script of the riddle.

"Yeah, this is his hand writing..." Scott mumbles, suddenly standing up with a pop of his knee. "Have you all found anything else that might link to the Mystery Man?"

Grian starts to shake his head when a sudden shout startles him. He whips around to see False standing with one hand on her hip and her sword clasped in the other, a smug smile on her face.

"False? What're you doing?" Grian asks, his gaze anxiously flickering between her face and diamond blade.

"I'm challenging the best PvPer of these people to a fight to see if they'd actually be able to help or if they're all just a bunch of pansies." False responds, twisting her sword in her hand.

Grian groans.

"False, we don't have time for this. We need to--" Grian starts to explain, but Scott cuts him off by stepping towards False.

"I'll take that challenge." He says, crossing his arms over his chest, smirking with an unidentifiable glint in his eyes.

* * *

 

Ren had volunteered his dojo as the place for the fight, so everyone, One Life and Hermitcraft, was gathered there. Grian watches anxiously as Scott and False stretch.

"Callum, surely you can't think this is a good idea." Grian says, turning to the fox man sat criss cross applesauce on the grass to his left.

Callum shrugs, his tail curling up around Grian's ankle.

"Honestly, even if I did think this was a bad idea, you know you can't stop Scott after he's set his mind to something." Callum jokes, looking back toward the dojo ring to see that the two are readying themselves to fight as Ren approaches the center.

"Alright, I want a clean fight. Nothing below the belt. No healing items. Weapon changes are allowed at any point during the match." He says, giving False and Scott a stern look each to which they nod.

"Ready..."

False leans down, her feet a shoulder length apart, gripping her sword with both hands in front of her.

"Set..."

Scott winks at her, his strange white bladed sword shining as he draws it from his belt, shifting into a defensive position.

Ren raises a mallet and hits the starter bell.

"Fight!" He shouts as he dodges out of the way of the two, standing between Cleo and Joe on the other side of the fighting ring.

False makes the first move, slashing forwards with her sword, embers of tiny flames from the fire aspect enchantment catching a small cut across the front of Scott's hoodie as he dodges backwards.

Scott ducks and rolls out of her hit range as she tries to stab at him again.

He stops behind her and, as she twirls around to attack, he takes hold of his sword with both hand and swings.

False hisses in pain as he cuts across her shoulder. She stumbles away, holding her shoulder as she attempts to regain her balance.

Sensing an opportunity, Scott leaps forwards, but their swords clash, the sound of reinforced gemstones scraping against each other ringing throughout the dojo.

Grian holds his breath, ignoring Lauren's loud cheers for Scott on his left and Iskall's hooting for False on his right as he watches his two friends hack and slash at each other.

Suddenly, Scott jumps back from the battle, pulling a bow from his inventory, notching an arrow and keeping it aimed at False. They begin to circle each other in the center of the ring, eyes narrowed as they each try to find a weak point in the other defenses.

Scott lets the arrow fly, the thing burying itself into her abdomen in a blur.

False opens her mouth in a silent scream, her eyes squinting shut against the pain.

However, when she looks up at Scott, there is no competitive fire in her eyes, only a proud if slightly tired look.

"Congrats, Scott. You win. Guess you're not a bunch of pansies." She jokes, sheathing her sword and taking a hobbling step backwards.

Cleo rushes forwards with a Potion of Regeneration, handing it over to False while Joe follows behind her.

Stress approaches Scott, a timid hand running over his strange sword as she picks it to hand to him.

"So what kind of sword is that?" Grian asks, watching Scott gently take the sword from Stress and sheath it to his hip.

Scott gives him a strange look.

"Does this world not have mods?" He asks back, his eyebrows drawn together in confusion.

Grian shakes his head.

"No, this server is completely vanilla, aside from a couple custom plug-ins Xisuma made."

Scott playfully rolls his eyes as he pulls his sword from his scabard again.

The shine is similar to the one a normal sword would take after being exchanged, but it had a strange yellow ting to it rather than the normal blueish-purple. The white blade, though slightly stained with False's blood, was also vaguely transparent around the edges.

"What is it made of?" Stress asks, moving to stand on Scott's left side.

"It's an advanced nether star sword." Scott says with a proud smile.

Grian's jaw drops in surprise.

"You're telling that you fought at least THREE withers and you didn't die?!" He asks loudly, shocked that his friend would make such a risky move for a sword of all things.

Scott laughs and shrugs while Stress oohs and ahhs over the shiny sword.

"Hey, if you're gonna yell at me, go yell at Shelby, too. She's got one and so does our friend, Jack, back home." Scott says.

Grian lets out an exasperated groan, covering his face with his hands to hide his smile.

He's missed being able to talk with his friends like this.


	3. Chapter 3

A week had passed since the One Life players had arrived on the server, yet no new clue of the Mystery Man had arisen.

During this week, hermits had taken the newcomers in for temporary shelter. False taking in Scott, TFC taking in Yammy, Stress taking in Joel and Lizzie, Scar taking in Lauren, Ren taking in Callum, and Grian taking in Shelby. Originally, Grian had offered to let his old friends stay with him since he has more than enough room for everyone, but the second Scott saw the mess of a storage unit in the bottom floor, he'd taken off. The others had felt too awkward to stay with him and Shelby had been the only one to be willing to patch up their relationship from the whole 'abandoning them without any warning what-so-ever' thing.

* * *

"So do you need anything else?" Grian asks as he gets ready for bed that night.

Shelby, now changed in her pajamas and sat on her freshly crafted white bed, shakes her head with a yawn.

"I'm good, just really tired." She says, pulling her bright red hair up into a ponytail.

Grian yawns and nods, making his way over to his own bed.

"Well, you know you're welcome to scavage through my stuff if you need something while I'm sleeping." He says, plopping down and immediately burrowing into his covers.

"Night, Shelby."

"G'night, Grian."

The sounds of the ocean outside and Shelby's deep, even breathing across the room lulls Grian into a slumber quickly. Just as he tips over the edge, there's a small amount of shuffling and a chest opens catches in his mind, but then he's asleep.

* * *

**_THUD!!_ **

Grian startled awake, his head racing in his chest as he struggles to get out of his bed, his eyes scanning wildly for the source of the noise.

A blur of aqua blue flies by his face, missing by only an inch.

His heart jumps into his throat as he turns to see the infamous Mystery Man, standing in the northern entrance to the base, a cloak fluttering around his form, his face hidden by a familiar mask.

The wicked grin of a Vex stares down at Grian, a gloved hand taking another diamond axe out of his inventory, the bright sunlight glinting off the blade.

"Shelby, call Scott or Lauren! They're the closest!" He shouts as the redhead woman sleepily pushes herself up in her bed.

She drowsily looks between Grian, who dodges to the left as an axe goes flying towards him again, reaching for his elytra, and up to Mystery Man, who turns to look at her, tilting his head to the side as he jumps down to the base level. She quickly scrambles out of her bed, her blanket tangling around her ankle, causing her to stumble.

The masked man chuckles darkly, the sound reverberating off the concrete walls of Grian's base.

Grian gives a battle cry, swinging his sword that he'd taken out of a shulker box, but Mystery Man twirls on his heels, blocking the blow with his own sword, one made of iron.

Grian grunts, dodging backwards as Mystery Man attempts to slash at him. He throws a glance over his shoulder to see Shelby with her communicator to her ear, watching the fight unfold with wide, nervous eyes.

"Grian, behind you!" She shouts suddenly, pointing with her free hand.

Grian turns, crying out in pain when Mystery Man's sword plunges through his abdomen.

"Lauren, get to Grian's base quickly!" Shelby yells into her communicator, her voice cracking as Grian falls to the ground, screaming again when Mystery Man rips his sword out.

Grian's head spins, darkness edging into his vision, blood pouring from his new wound. His hearing starts to sound like he's been pushed underwater, muffled and filled with cotton, as he looks up from his bloody floor to see Shelby and the Mystery Man fighting.

_>_ _Grian bled out while fighting_

___ᒲ||ᓭℸ ̣ ᒷ∷|| ᒲᔑリ_ _ _

 Grian respawns back in his bed just a few feet away, shooting up with a gasp and a hand instinctively covering the spot where his death wound had been.

A firework rocket goes off, startling both the fighters until Lauren, still dressed in her pajamas, and Scar, who'd likely been awake for hours and is dressed in his normal clothing, come barreling through the western entrance of the base in two very different styles of grace.

Lauren sloppily lands a few meters away from Shelby and Mystery Man, but recovers as she fluidly leaps at the Mystery Man, her diamond sword that had been clutched in her hand slicing across his mask and shattering it.

Shelby and Lauren gasp, Shelby's hands covering her mouth in shock.

"Britt...? But how...?" Lauren's voice cracks, dropping her sword, the clattering sound ringing through the room.

Grian remembers Britt. They never really talked much, but Scott was good friends with her and always spoke so highly of her whenever the subject came up.

But something seemed off about Britt in this moment.

She looked different than the vague memories that reside in his head.

Her normally bright green eyes are currently a light, but murky shade of brown.

She smiles sinisterly, taking this opportunity of weakness to attack, Lauren screaming out as Britt leaps at her, only for the cloaked woman to go flying across the room as a shimmering gray-blue forcefield forms around the galaxy-haired woman.

Grian whips his head around to see Scar with his arm raised towards the scene, his eyes and scars glowing the same color as the forcefield.

Shelby moves to attack Britt's fallen form when she suddenly and jerkily stands up again, laughing loudly in such a way that Grian felt his blood run cold in his veins.

She swishes her cloak around herself, continuing her maniacal laughter until it fades and her cloak drops to the ground, empty.

Everyone stares, processing whatever just happened.

Lauren breaks the silence with a loud, anguished scream, practically throwing herself to the ground and curling up into a ball.

"Britt, you idiot!! You were my best friend!!" She yells through gritted teeth, thick hot tears of anger streaking down her cheeks already.

Grian moves to comfort her, but instead, Scar sets his hand on his shoulder, gesturing with his head to walk a little bit away.

Scar's nose twitches as they come up between the tube farms.

"Grian, what does it smell like in here to you?" Scar asks, crossing his arms over his chest as he looks between Grian and Lauren's crying form on the floor a few meters away.

Grian raises an eyebrow in confusion, but takes a deep breath in through his nose. The smell of the ocean air quickly fills his senses, but something lies underneath it all. It almost smells like...

"It kinda smells like burnt onions and sugar."

Scar curses.

"Damn, that exactly what I thought. I need to talk to Cub, something in what just transpired isn't telling the whole truth." He says, fiddling with his elytra straps as he starts to walk away.

"Wait, what? What do you mean? Also, why was the Mystery Ma-- er, Britt using one of your Vex masks?" Grian asks, grabbing Scar's wrist and tugging him back.

Scar looks conflicted for a moment before sighing and nodding.

"Based off the smell that you're describing and the feeling I'm getting in this room, I think an illusion spell was used. I don't think this Britt woman really is the Mystery Man. I think whoever they really are is concealing their identity and trying to pin it on your friend." Scar explains softly.

"Alright, but what about that mask? You and Cub are the only people to have those stupid Vex heads." Grian says, throwing his hands outwards in exasperation.

Scar shakes his head.

"I don't know where they got that mask from, but it wasn't from me or Cub."

Grian sighs, dragging a hand over his face as he thinks.

"Well, we need to tell everyone about this. Come on, help me get all of them to shopping district."


	4. Chapter 4

It was decided that gathering in the Sahara lobby would be the best place to tell everyone about what had just happened. Lauren and Shelby remained on the bottom floor while Grian and Scar, soon joined by Cub, went up to the top bit where the stage is.

Slowly, everyone trickles into the shop. The other people from the One Life server immediately crowd around Lauren, joining her in her anger and tears of betrayal.

Cub waves his hand, a vibrant blue strand of ghostly magic wrapping around his throat as he clears it.

"Alright, attention, everyone." He says, his voice amplified tenfold, shushing the crowd in an instant, aside from the occasional sniffle from Lauren and the others

"Grian was attacked by the Mystery Man--"

A whisper shoots through the crowd, confirming their suspicions about the death message they had all seen. Only Xisuma, Yammy, and TFC had known for sure, as the only people on the server with the ability to read Standard Galactic.

"-- He has also seen the supposed identity of this figure."

Loud stomping resounds through the shop as Scott stands from his spot with Lauren and storms out of Sahara.

"Scar, can you go get him please?" Cub says with a sigh, his voice lowering in volume as he turns.

Scar nods, taking off after the cyan haired man with a pop of a rocket.

"As I was saying, the supposed identity of the Mystery Man is a friend of the One Life server, a woman named Britt. However!" Cub exclaims, quickly cutting off the surprised shouts from below.

He clears his throat again.

"However, Scar, Grian and myself have all come to a conclusion that Britt is not Mystery Man and the real perpetrator used an illusion spell to mask their identity." Cub explains, tucking his hands behind his back as he speaks.

Shelby stands from the crowd, a shadow of an unidentifiable emotion flickering over her face before morphing to a torn and confused expression.

"How do you know? Me and Lauren both saw Britt when her mask broke! It has to be her!" She half-shouts, tears welling up in her eyes again.

"Shelby, Lauren, please think back to when you saw the mask break. Did anything seem off about her appearance?" Cub says calmly.

The two women pause and think. Lauren's forehead wrinkles as she makes the realization, quickly standing up, her misty eyes wide.

"Her eyes were brown, not green! Shelby, this means it can't be Britt!" She exclaims, spinning on her heels to share her happy expression with her redhead friend.

Shelby blinks rapidly before shakily returning the smile.

"You're right..." She mumbles.

Grian turns his attention away from the now celebrating members of the One Life server to look over his hermit friends. He locks eyes with TFC, the oldest hermit quickly turning away. His glowing eyes seem to land on the tall form of Callum, who stands away from the group, his arms crossed over his chest and his head lowered, his expression hidden away from anyone looking his way.

Grian narrows his eyes.

That seems rather suspicious to him.

He shakes it off as Scar re-enters the shop with a happier looking Scott in tow.

As Scar hops back up to stand next to Cub, he starts to talking, explaining the safety plan he had come up with.

"Everyone should start to travel in a buddy system. No one should be left alone at any point in time if they're out and about, whether on the main island or in Hermitville. If we stick together, it'll be harder for Mystery Man to attack."

A murmur of agreement ripples through the crowd, people nodding and sidling up closer to the people they want to be their buddy.

The gathering ends after that and people begin to slowly filter out of the shop. Grian hops down to the ground floor, intent on getting back to his base and finally changing out of his pajamas, pulling some rockets out of his inventory until someone taps him on the shoulder. He turns around to see Lizzie standing behind him.

"Hey, Grian, um... Could you come with me for a little bit and help me get back to Stress's house? She said she needed to help Cleo with something and Joel's going off with Callum to search for clues around the shopping district and I still don't know my way around the server." She says sheepishly, twirling a bit of her hair on the end of her finger.

Grian sighs internally, but smiles his agreement.

"Do you have an elytra? I have couple spares in my enderchest if you need one." He offers, already pulling said chest out of his inventory.

Lizzie shakes her head, happily spinning around to show off the smaller winged elytra on her back with the words _Vex Wings_ visible on backing that holds the straps.

"Cub gave it to me when he saw me and Joel struggling to boat all the way out here." She says, turning back to face him.

Grian nods, impressed, before waving for her to follow after him and out of the shop.

Lizzie nervously shifts her rockets from hand to hand as she watches him take off flawlessly from the ground.

"Come on, it's not that hard!" Grian encourages her as he spirals around, popping another rocket to keep him airborne.

Lizzie takes a deep breath before she gets a running start and jumps, setting off a rocket at the perfect moment.

She launches into the air, laughing as the wind rushes through her hair. Grian joins her in her joy.

"Come on! This way to Stress' base!" He eventually shouts after they spend a few minutes playfully chasing each other through the skies of the shopping district.

Lizzie gives a thumbs up, darting after him.

The wind turns to chill the closer they get to the tundra and both regret no wearing something thicker and warmer out in the freezing ice.

Eventually, they land on the roof of the castle and Lizzie's bouncing and cheering for herself, absolutely elated that she managed to fly without the help of her manticore or her fairy horse.

"You need anything else before I head off?" Grian asks as Lizzie calms down.

The pink haired woman taps her chin, but shakes her head with a smile.

A rocket goes off in the distance, but Grian thinks nothing of it, thinking it's probably just Stress or Iskall headed to the lab or something.

He fiddles with his elytra straps. tightening them as he turns his back to Lizzie. He jumps from the roof of the castle, propelling himself forwards with a small spam of rockets.

He turns in the air to wave goodbye to Lizzie, but he's met with confusion upon not seeing her anymore.

Another rocket goes off and he quickly whirls around to see the source. His heart drops into his stomach when he hears a familiar screaming.

Flying away from Stress' base, Lizzie struggling against their grip, is the Mystery Man, still maintaining their illusion of Britt.

"LIZZIE!" Grian screams, immediately shooting after the retreating duo, his heart hammering in his chest.

"Good luck finding her, bird boy!" Mystery Man shouts back at him, the use of Britt's voice making him wobble.

And, not even a split second later, they're gone without a trace, no theatrics, just gone. Grian blinks, fear and panic coursing through his veins as he forces himself to land.

"Joel's going to kill me..."


	5. Chapter 5

Everyone took the news of Lizzie’s abduction about as well as Grian thought they all would.

Which was not that great.

“What do you mean Mystery Man got Lizzie?! Didn’t you try to stop them?!” Joel shouts, his normally calm and quiet voice loud and understandably angry, his hands curling into fists at his sides.

Grian flinches backwards, flailing his hands out in front of him in a motion of surrender.

“Don’t you think I tried? They just disappeared right in front of me!” Grian exclaims, guilt pooling in his stomach.

Joel opens his mouth to shout again, but all that escapes is a harsh sob and he collapses on Yammy’s shoulder, the cat-eared woman immediately pulling him in for a tight hug.

“We’ll get her back, I promise.” Scott murmurs, gently rubbing comforting circles on his friend’s heaving back.

Joel nods slowly, pulling away from his hug with Yammy to wipe at his tear-streaked face.

“Alright. Shelby and Callum, go check the shopping district for clues. Joel, Yammy, and Lauren, go check around Stress’ base for clues. Grian, you and me are going to go ask the other hermits if they know anything.” Scott says, taking a leadership role.

Everyone quickly disperses and Grian and Scott start walking towards the nearest Nether portal.

“When did you get so…” Grian trails off, gesturing vaguely, unsure of what word to use as they come to a stop in front of Sahara’s Nether portal.

“Probably Harmony Hollow season three or four. I was the leader of the vampire hunters and then the alpha wizwolf, so that’s a lot of leadership training.” Scott responds before the two step into the portal, the heat of the Nether immediately causing them to sweat bullets.

Grian shakes his head, not quite understanding.

“Harmony Hollow? Is that another server?” He asks, his brows knit together in confusion.

Scott nods.

“It’s an SMP you would have been a part of if you had stuck around.” He all but spits out, his expression suddenly going sour.

Grian’s blood runs cold at the mention of his leave. He had hopes that it wouldn’t be brought up.

Scott opens his mouth to say something, but he seems to think better of it and turns away.

The silence hangs heavy between the two, words that they both might regret boiling just below the surface until a rocket pops in distance and someone comes shooting towards them.

“Hey, Ren! Hey, Doc!” Grian exclaims, waving up at his friends.

Ren happily waves back, tilting his trajectory a little to land in front of the two, Doc following close behind.

“Hey, dudes! What’re you doing out here?” Ren asks, his tail flickering behind him, obviously nervous.

“Something happened with the Mystery Man, so we’re asking around for clues.” Grian explains.

“Have you two seen or heard anything strange in, like, the last hour or so?” Scott asks, wringing his hands behind his back.

The two men think for a moment before Doc snaps with his prosthetic hand, remembering.

“Me and Ren were just in Hermit Land and I think I saw Lizzie flying overhead.” He says before frowning. “But what was weird was she was all alone. Isn’t she usually with the guy in Shrek hoodie?”

Grian and Scott exchange an anxious look before quickly thanking Doc and Ren for their time and continuing their walk through the Nether in a stifling silence, this time headed to the Hermitville portal. They step through and Grian gasps at the sight on the other side, his hands instinctively covering his mouth as he stumbles back.

The entire village was on fire.

Grian leaps forwards, activating his elytra to fly through the village to check damages. Even with fire spread off, fire is still dangerous.

“Grian!” Someone suddenly shouts, their voice filled with desperation.

The dirty blonde hermit swivels around, his eyes widening upon landing on Impulse, trapped under fallen debris of his villager’s house. Grian rushes down into the blaze, pulling his friend out as carefully as he can. Impulse scurries out before hissing in pain, clutching at his arm that Grian now realizes is bent at a strange angle.

“Think the fucker who burnt down my house broke my arm…” Impulse murmurs, confirming Grian’s suspicions.

The crackling of Impulse’s house completely crumbling to the ground around them startles the two back to reality.

“Can you fly?” Grian asks, helping Impulse to his feet as best he can.

Impulse hesitantly nods, already fishing some rockets out of his inventory with his good arm while Grian helps to adjust the injured man’s elytra. They manage to get into the air, above the suffocating smoke, stumbling into a horrible landing at the foot of the portal, next to a panicking Scott.

“Oh my God, are you two okay?! Ah, why am I asking? You obviously aren’t!” Scott starts to ramble, practically launching himself to Impulse’s side to help him stand when he yelps as he tries to put weight on his arm.

“Scott, please go call Tango or Zedaph. They can come pick Impulse up while I ask him a couple questions.” Grian says.

His cyan haired friend nods and sits Impulse against the portal frame before walking a few feet away, a Concorp brand communicator in hand.

“Questions? What kind of questions?” Impulse asks, his brows drawn together in worry.

Grian shakes his head softly, trying to wave away any anxiety his friend might have.

“Don’t worry. I don’t think you did this, just following a lead that’s looking very good right now to something about Mystery Man.” He explains, sitting down next to Impulse with a small smile.

Impulse returns the smile and gestures for the dirty blonde Brit to begin.

“Did you see anything weird around Hermitville before everything caught on fire?” Grian asks, opening his communicator to keep notes. 

“Uh, I guess? The girl with the pink hair-- Lizzie, right?-- was flying over the village without anyone with her. She kept wobbling when she was flying, but she darted off almost expertly when I waved to her.” Impulse replies, looking up when Scott’s soft voice starts to talk through his communicator.

Grian’s face contorts with concentration as he writes that down quickly.

“What direction did Lizzie take off in?” He asks.

Impulse stares down at the wooden floor for a moment as he puts himself back in the moment.

“She took off towards Hermitland, so northeast.”

Grian nods and they lapse into silence as Scott pockets his communicator and sits cross-legged in front of the two.

“Tango and Zed said they’re on their way.” Scott says softly, looking down at the palms of his hands.

The three stick together for a couple minutes before the portal startles them by suddenly activating and two blonde men come tumbling out. Tango stares in shock at the fire of Hermitville before quickly using his magic to quell the flames as Zed helps Impulse stand up again. Grian and Scott bid them farewell as they stagger back through the portal, fretting over Impulse the entire time.

“So where are we headed?” Scott asks once the others are out of sight.

Grian explains what he’d been told and Scott nods, taking the spare elytra that was offered to him and strapping it on with little issue. Two rockets pop off at the same time and they both jump into the air, taking off at breakneck speeds over the amusement park district and the surrounding forest.

“So what are we looking for exactly?! You’ve dealt with Mystery Man longer so you should know!” Grian shouts over the winds.

“Anything that looks out of place or completely unnatural!” Scott shouts back, shooting off ahead of Grian with a little twirl.

“Like that?!”

Scott follows Grian’s pointing hand to a clearing in the forest, where large pillar of netherrack was set ablaze, casting a small glow to the surroundings due to the slowly darkening sky.

The two fly down, landing at the base of the tower with curious expressions.

At the bottom sits a single chest with a dark oak sign with the words dyed red on the front, reading, ‘to our little adventurers’.

“So this is either a prank between some of the hermits or this is the Mystery Man…” Grian mumbles, opening the chest to reveal a single book and quill at the bottom.

“A fire deep in the woods will go unseen for ages to come.  A fire in the water is quick to succumb. Though you all may think this a tad lame, come along and play a little game. The prize you win is your bright shadow and her safe delivery to her dearest beau.” Scott reads aloud over Grian’s shoulder, his brows drawing together in concern.

Grian flips to the next page, exchanging an anxious look with his friend.

“Little birdy did once learn to fly, way up so high. Find the limit of the sky’s blue hue and there you shall find your next clue.”

* * *

Grian hands the book over to Joel, who reads it out loud for the hundredth time.

“It seems so straightforward, but I still don’t understand!” Lauren exclaims, snatching the book up for herself.

“Stacy was always good with riddles, she would have known what to do.” Yammy grumbles, her tail swishing with frustration behind her.

Callum’s hands suddenly slam down on the makeshift table Grian had thrown together in his base, the fox-man looking up angrily at his friend.

“Well, Stacy isn’t here! You let her get killed because you let Mystery Man plant those Foliaths that night!” He shouts.

“That wasn’t my fault! If Stacy wasn’t so dense. Maybe she would have checked for monsters instead of running all willy nilly!” Yammy yells back, matching Callum’s glare with a fang filled sneer.

Grian growls as everyone continues to fight, the frustration running high. Just as he opens his mouth to yell at everyone to calm down, several rockets go off, hitting his concrete roof with loud bangs.

Everyone’s attention turns to Shelby, the smaller woman shrinking a little under the heated gazes of her friends.

“Guys, we just need to take a step back and breathe.” She says softly, gently taking the book from Lauren’s hands.

Joel sighs, running his hand over his face.

“Shelby’s right. Fighting won’t get us anywhere…” He mumbles.

Everyone nods in agreement, stepping away from the table, stretching and not saying anything as Shelby slowly reads over the book for herself.

“Okay, now that everyone is calmer... Grian?” The redhead asks, looking up to the dirty blonde.

Grian perks up, nodding to motion for her to continue.

“I think the little birdy thing is supposed to be a metaphor. Who’s the best flyer on the server?”

Grian puffs up with pride, grinning.

“Well, that would be me, actually. I picked up an elytra and could beat Tango, the guy who was born with wings, in an aerial race in less than a week.” He says, pointing to himself with his thumbs, mentally patting himself on the back.

Shelby nods enthusiastically.

“Where did you learn to fly?”

“Right here in and around my base… Which goes right up to build limit! Shelby, you’re a genius!” Grian exclaims, finally picking up what she was putting down.

“Come on then! Let’s go check the top!” Scott shouts, already taking off into the air.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Mention of character death, mention of gore, and a little self-deprication

 "There it is!" Lauren exclaims happily, landing by another chest on one of the concrete pillars at the top of Grian's base.

She chucks open the chest and grips the book holding the second clue as if this were all just some harmless prank.

"Congratulations on finding this little prize. Perhaps you'll be able to see through the next guise. In a land of red tint is where you shall find your next hint." Lauren reads, her voice growing quiet as she realizes how short the clue is.

"Land of red tint... The Nether, maybe?" Yammy muses.

Grian groans, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"But the Nether is huge! How in the world are we supposed to find a single chest while our only clue is 'hey, go to Hell'?!" He growls in frustration.

"Well, we have to start somewhere, don't we?" Shelby says, already trying to ease tensions.

Everyone agrees and so they set off for the Nether.

Yammy grimaces as her hair immediately frizzes up, walking backwards away from the portal as she attempts to fix it, only to trip over something unseen in her path.

"Another chest!" Grian shouts, running away from the portal to help Yammy up as Callum digs through the chest.

Everyone waits with bated breath as Callum opens the book, reading barely loud enough to be heard over the shrieking of the ghasts outside the Nether Hub.

"Follow the path of the rising sun to find your shadow before I run. Start from a flowery magical place and fly as far as you can before the light is gone with no trace. A sanctuary of defense is where you must commence."

Callum closes the book and everyone looks to Grian, who stammers from the sudden attention.

"You know _this_ server best..." Scott huffs, the unsaid accusation stinging.

Grian forces himself to shrug it off, ignoring the tightness in his chest and the itching in his eyes. He takes a deep breath to think.

_A flowery, magical place..._

"Mystery Man could be talking about the fantasy district. It's set in a flower field biome." He eventually says.

"What about the 'sanctuary of defense'?" Lauren asks, wiping her sweaty forehead with the back of her hand.

"It's gotta be Ren's dojo."

A pause and a collection of blank stares.

Y'know, that place where Scott and False fought when you guys first got here?" Grian tacks on.

"Oh, there? Alright, I remember how to get there." Joel pitches in, forcing on a cheerful tone with a tight-lipped smile.

The group remains quiet, causing Joel's smile to slip off his face.

"Whatever. Let's just go." He says, his voice uncharacteristically emotionless and dull as he stalks off to find the portal that leads to Ren's base.

Grian cringes in guilt, taking off after him.

"We'll find Lizzie, I promise." The dirty blonde whispers as they stop in front of Ren's portal.

Joel sends him a boiling glare of out the corner of his eye, causing him to shrink back.

"For your sake, we had better." Joel threatens, stepping through the portal without another word.

Grian lets the others push past him and pile into the portal before stepping through himself, thanking the gods that the Nether was warm enough to immediately evaporate any water, otherwise his face would be streaked with tears.

"Er, hey, dudes! What can the Ren diggity dog help you with today?" Ren asks, surprised by the plethora of people that stumble through his portal.

Grian quickly clears his throat and rubs his eyes before smiling over at his friend.

"Hey, sorry, Ren. Just needed a quick shortcut to the dojo. Mystery Man thing." Grian explains, his voice breaking almost unnoticeablely at the end of his sentence.

Note almost.

Ren's ears prick up and he narrows his eyes, waltzing over and grabbing Grian by the collar of his shirt as he points the others in the direction of the dojo.

"G-Man, what's wrong? I've literally never seen you get... Even a little emotional in  public before." Ren asks in concern as he watches the One Life group exit.

Grian shakes his head as he stares down at the floor, willing himself not to spill.

"It's nothing, Ren. Honestly. Just a tad stressed from the whole situation right now."

"Gri, I don't believe that for a second. Remember, I'm basically a living lie detector."

A silence spans on for several long moments before Ren huffs, crossing his arms over his chest.

"If you don't want to tell me, fine. Just remember that bottling up your emotions is unhealthy, bro." He says in a low tone.

Ren turns and starts to walk away, but only gets a few steps before Grian sniffles.

"They still hold it against me." He says in a small voice.

Ren smiles sadly and quickly wraps Grian in a comforting, blanket-like hug. Ren keeps quiet, letting the dirty blonde getting his feelings up.

"Its been almost four years and they still hold it against me. I left for reasons I don't need to explain and they hate me for it!" Grian shouts into Ren's shoulder, hugging the werewolf back tightly with a small sob.

Ren rubs small circles on Grian's back as he makes sure he's done speaking before opening his mouth.

"Well, try to think from their shoes for a moment. If one of your friends that you lost contact with, for seemingly reason on their part, suddenly asked you for help with a pretty big problem?"

Grian grimaces, pulling his face from the crook of Ren's neck. He tries to think about one of his friends from Evo, maybe Taurtis or Netty... Heck, even Sam from even further back... How would he feel in a reversed situation?

"Pretty bitter, I guess..."

"Old wounds run deep, dude. Just try giving them some time. I know I'm not the greatest at advice, but that's the best I can do."

Grian nods silently, not letting go off Ren for another couple seconds. He pulls back with a sigh, shoving his hands deep into his pants pockets and kicking at loose stones in the floor.

"I should probably go before everyone gets angry at them for keeping them waiting..." He grumbles.

Ren pats him on the shoulder before messing up Grian's already sloppy hair, drawing out a small laugh and protest from the Brit.

"You've got this, man." Ren encourages.

Grian smiles his thanks and exits the base with the pop of a rocket, shooting out into the open sky of the coming dawn.

His trip to the dojo is quick, but every solitary moment is enjoyed before he forces himself to land delicately next to Lauren on the edge of the group.

"Are we finally all ready?" Yammy asks.

She starts to do a quick once over of the group before a twig suddenly snaps to the side of the dojo, causing jumpy Scott and Joel to draw their weapons. Out of the bushes steps a burly older man, his hair salt and pepper and his thick beard a greyish-off white color, glowing white eyes casting strange shadows across his face.

"Oh, hey, Chef. What are you doing all the way out here?" Grian asks, stepping between Scott and Joel to make them put their weapons away.

"Something here isn't right, so I'm coming with you all." TFC says, moving closer to the group as he pulls a leaf out of his hair.

"What? No, you can't come wi-" Joel starts to protest before TFC cuts him off with a simple look.

"I'll boat behind you whenever we hit water because I don't have an elytra." The older hermit says, not taking 'no' for an answer as he pulls an oak boat from his inventory.

Yammy grumbles her annoyances, but sighs, continuing her check.

Once satisfied, they all take off, following the compass that Callum brought due east along the course of the rising sun.

* * *

Turns out, flying via elytra for ten hours straight and only stopping to use the restroom and eat hurts your back. A lot.

 _And your head with Shelby's constant whining about getting to Lizzie asap..._ Grian thinks as he glares weakly at the redhead's back as they all land to sleep for the night.

Because of TFC's lack of modern conveniences, the journey took about twice as long, the flight group having to constantly make sure they didn't lose the older man. Now they set up camp for the night, TFC being grandpa enough to provide some wool he had in his inventory to be made into tents before moving away to start a campfire. Soon enough, everyone has a tent set up on the grassy ground of the tiaga forest they had landed in. A magenta one for Yammy, a purple one for Lauren, an orange one for Callum, a green one for Joel, a cyan one for Scott, a red one for Shelby, and Grian and TFC ended up having to share a simple white tent due to not having quite enough wool for two more seperate tents.

Dinner passed in silence, aside from the songs of crickets and nightjars and the crackling of the fire.

Eventually, people start to trail off to bed, Shelby glaring daggers at TFC for, quote, "slowing them down too much".

"That was the tensest dinner I've ever had to sit through. What sticks are up their butts?" TFC suddenly says with a small chuckle as the last One Lifer goes to their tent for the night.

Grian laughs softly, tucking his knees up to his chest as he basks in the warmth of the fire.

"It's kinda my fault... I haven't seen them in years, completely cut them out of my life and now I'm back? Asking them to possibly lay down their lives for a world they don't even know? Plus, I'm also to blame for Lizzie's kidnapping..." Grian says, his voice getting quieter and quieter with each passing word until he's barely speaking above a whispering tone.

TFC growls and claps a hand onto Grian's shoulder, startling the poor younger hermit.

"Listen, kid, all of this? 'S not your fault. This is all some sick game being played out by some twisted individual. I can't say anything 'bout your relationship with everyone, but from what I can tell, they still care about you. They're just scared." TFC says, his beard twitching up as he smiles knowingly.

Grian turns away with a shrug.

"I really don't think they do."

TFC sighs, but backs off.

"Whatever you say, kid..."

Grian remains by the fire as TFC stands, joints cracking, and stumbles towards their shared tent.

* * *

_"It's Kim. She's dead."_

_Those words, uttered by Lauren, stop Grian in his tracks, his tending to his farm completely forgotten as he turns to his friend in shock._

_"Please tell me you're joking." Grian pleads, despite the look on Lauren's face telling him this is the furthest from a prank as it could get and he knew she was a horrible actress._

_"How?"_

  _The question was simple, but it held immense power over the people of the server._

_"Same as Dylan. She was slumped over her desk with an axe driven into her skull. A note signed with double M's was pinned to the desk using a piece of glass from a broken window."_

_Grian growls._

_"Mystery Man again..."_

_Grian opens his mouth to add something to his bitter statement, but is cut off by Lauren saying something that makes his heart stutter in his chest._

_"Her body was ice cold. She'd probably been dead since Dylan's funeral last week because that was the last time anyone saw her."_

_Grian blinks, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes and blurring his vision. He thought he had run dry from all the crying he did at Dylan's funeral. Guess he was wrong._

_Lauren awkwardly shuffles in her spot, curling in on herself a little._

_"Her funeral is tomorrow morning. Just thought I'd let you know."_

_Grian nods numbly and she takes her leave, letting her friend have time alone to grieve._

_**I need to get out of here...** _

_Grian sniffles and grits his teeth, turning tail to bolt into his house. He grabs a backpack starts to haphazardly stuff it full of food, healing items, spare clothes, and crafting materials as he tugs his communictor out of his pocket._

_He swings the pack over his shoulder, running out of his house, slamming the front door shut behind him, as he taps a contact and anxiously holds it up to his ear as it rings and rings._

_"H-Hello?" A Scottish accented voice answers, the way their words stick making it clear they had just been crying._

_"Scott, I'm coming over. Get some things together." Grian says bluntly, not giving his friend time to respond before he hangs up._

_He makes his way over to Scott's home as quickly as he could. He barges in without knocking, startling Scott, who had been pacing around his living room, tear tracks staining his dirt-covered face._

_"Grian, what the hell was that?" Scott all but snaps, descending on his taller friend with a glower._

_"We need to leave. It's getting too dangerous. I know we all agreed to hardcore, but what happens when another player kills us? Do we ever come back?"_

_Grian reaches forwards, gently taking Scott's hand in his own, but the brown haired man recoils as if he had been burnt._

_"Leave..? Grian, I can't leave. I have a duty to help this server."_

_Scott takes a step back, his hands curling into white-knuckled fists at his sides._

_"But I care about you! If you die, I don't know if I could keep going here!"_

_Grian steps forwards, trying to guide Scott out of the house._

_"No! I need to be here!"_

_Grian growls, his frustration with the situation boiling over._

_"Please, Scott! We both know you're not strong enough to survive here, so let's just go!"_

_The words tumble out of Grian's mouth without a second thought and the moment they leave, he's already reeling to pull them back._

_Scott stares at him as if he had been struck, not even bothering to brush his fringe out of his face when it falls. After a long, tense second, Scott turns away, shaking in anger._

_"Wait, no, please, that's not what I meant-"_

_"Get out."_

_"Sc-"_

_"I SAID GET OUT!"_

_Fresh hot, angry tears surge down Scott's face, his body language screaming that if Grian doesn't leave now, Scott will add another person to the funeral tomorrow._

_Grian tries again to calm Scott down, but stops after Scott glares at him._

_"Fine. Goodbye, Scott."_

* * *

Grian's back cracks loudly, a cold sweat pooling across his forehead, as he shoots awake with a gasp.

His heavy breathing slowly evens out as he catches his bearings.

The smoldering remains of the fire from earlier in the night crackle softly and a cool wind drifts through the clearing.

Stars twinkle high in the sky and the moon, full and chubby-faces, sits at its highest point, smiling down to the earth.

Slowly, Grian pushes himself up with a groan and slips into the tent he was supposed to be sleeping in, the final tendrils of his haunting memory of a dream drifting from his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: *uses Ren as a mini plot development upon learning dogs can supposedly sense when humans are lying* >:3c


	7. Chapter 7

The next time Grian wakes up, it is to the sound of the camp slowly coming alive again.

Shelby’s easily excited shouting and Callum’s tired laughter, Lauren’s loud complaints of hunger and Scott’s teasing replies, Joel’s stifled sobbing and Yammy’s quiet reassurances.

Grian quietly wiggles his way out of the empty tent, smiling up at TFC who was hanging out just in front.

“They’re all very interesting to watch. Like chickens with their heads cut off.” TFC says with a little grin.

Grian laughs softly, turning to watch the scene with the older hermit.

Lauren was now chasing Scott around the burnt out fire pit, having tugged Joel up onto her shoulders in a successful attempt to cheer him up a little. Yammy was cheering them on loudly, grinning from ear to ear, her pupils dilated and her tail flicking in a playful manner. Callum was trying to spark the fire up once again, a bundle of fish set on the ground beside him, expertly ducking and dodging each time the runners pass his way. Off to the side, sitting criss-cross applesauce in front of her tent, was Shelby, watching the fun with an almost bored expression.

Her eyes twitch over to where Grian and TFC are standing and she’s suddenly smiling widely, waving wildly as she hops up. Her bright red hair trails after her as she darts over to Grian and tackles him to the ground with a hug, causing Grian to laugh loudly.

“Morning, Shelby.” He says, sitting up to lounge on the dewy grass with Shelby next to him while TFC walks off to help Callum with the fire.

“Morning, Grian! Hey, wanna know something I thought of last night before I went to sleep?” She asks, bouncing excitedly with a large, infectious smile.

Grian smiles back and nods for her to continue.

“We’re red buddies! My hair and your sweater are the same color!”

He laughs in response, giving her a little side hug.

“Yeah, I guess we are.”

The two dwindle into companionable silence, content to watch the chaos that unfolds when Scott runs into TFC’s back when taunting Lauren and Joel, causing TFC to smirk and join in the chasing of Scott, who, at this point, was shouting apologies fearfully.

Suddenly, a shrill scream arising from Callum rings out in the air, startling everyone else quiet.

Grian’s head whips over to the fox man, scrambling to his feet to sprint over to where he had fallen over.

An arrow was buried in the tree not even an inch from where his head had been but a moment before, stabbed through a piece of paper.

After everyone is assured that Callum is okay, if a bit shaken up, Yammy reaches over and pulls the paper off the arrow.

“It’s a note from Mystery Man.” She says gravely, confirming everyone’s suspicions.

Yammy clears her throat before unfolding the paper to read it.

“Red as flame and as fragile as a feather is the one who shall disappear, no matter the weather. Color of the sun that shall soon set for as long as I choose to let. Begone with but a trace, but no need to rush for the journey to the void is not a race.”

Grian stares in shock.

“So they’re sending death threats now? Just perfect!” Scott shouts, voicing Grian’s (and he’s sure, the rest of the group’s) thoughts.

Joel growls lowly and stomps back over to his tent, pulling out his sword.

“Where are you, you coward?! Come out and show us who you are!! Stop hiding behind your poetic threats and fight me!” Joel shouts into the forest, gnashing his teeth into a fiery expression of pure rage, the desperation in his voice weakly escaping with his next words: “Give me Lizzie back!”

Scott quickly stumbles after Joel, pulling him away from the forest’s edge. Joel curses loudly, throwing down his sword and all but crumbling onto Scott’s shoulder with a shuddering sob.

Grian looks around the camp, shifting uncomfortably as TFC tenses, suddenly drawing a pickaxe from his inventory as a weapon.

“Something is close by.” TFC says lowly.

“Obviously, considering we were just shot at!” Yammy sasses, her tail thrashing angrily.

TFC takes a deep breath, shaking his head.

“No… Something with very, very dark magic…” He explains, his glowing eyes flickering around in an almost anxious manner.

Everyone else begins to pull out weapons at those words, pressing to each other’s backs in protection.

There’s suddenly a rustling in some bushes close by and Scott and Yammy are quick to aim their bows at it.

“Who’s there?” Scott calls, the panic and suspicion in his voice barely able to be heard.

A flash of pink through the trees and Joel gasps.

“Lizzie!” He shouts, immediately shooting away from Shelby’s side towards where the pink had originated from.

“Joel, no! It might be a trap!” TFC shouts, but it does nothing to stop him.

Scott curses loudly and takes off after Joel, trying to get the man in the Shrek hoodie to stop, but to no avail.

Soon enough the rest of the group has to take off after them, Shelby and Grian bringing up the rear as they crash through the forest.

There’s a clearing just up ahead that Grian can make out through the trees as well as another glimpse of pink.

_ It’s leading us somewhere… _ He thinks, tightening his grip on his sword and trying to run faster.

Grian scitters into the clearing last, looking around to see his friends glaring at something so he follows their gaze and joins them in their angry stare.

There, in broad daylight, cloak fluttering and mask equipped, is the Mystery Man. They continuously toss and catch a diamond axe with one hand, the other hidden in their cloak. Even with the cool grey-blue of the Vex hiding their face, Grian can sense the wicked grin that matches their mask.

“Well, well, well, lookie what we got here!” Mystery Man taunts, their voice still hidden as Britt’s under the mask, jumping calmly out of the way of the arrow that Scott lets loose from his bow.

Joel takes a threatening step forwards, pointing the blade of his sword at the Mystery Man.

“What did you do to Lizzie?” He asks, his words low and dangerous and Grian can just barely hear the strain of unshed tears behind it all.

Mystery Man huffs and crosses their arms over their chest, the sunlight peeking through the treetops glinting off their axe’s blade.

“Lizzie this, Lizzie that. Jeez, get a better personality, dude.” They scoff, their tone bored.

Grian growls and pushes himself to the front of the group, standing next to Joel with his own sword raised.

“I think his obsession is justified considering you kidnapped his wife!” He snaps.

Mystery Man laughs and tucks their hand holding their axe into their cloak, the wind dying out in that moment. It’s almost as if Mother Nature herself is holding her breath, waiting to see if the tense atmosphere would dissipate or bubble over.

“Oh, yeah, I forgot about that.” The vile masked person in front of them says in a teasing, singsong voice.

And bubble over it did.

With a twitch of the hand grasping his sword tightly, Joel leaps forwards, swinging his weapon at Mystery Man, but they effortlessly dodge, dancing back away from the enchanted diamond. Their axe bats away arrows before their gaze settles on Grian, who was frozen in fear.

He knew his friends were all basically masters of PvP, considering they must constantly fight for their non-respawnable life from monsters, so it shook him to his core to see that one person was able to fend off all of them and make it look so coldly graceful in the process.

Mystery Man lunges forward, their axe poised to attack, and all Grian can think to do is shut his eyes in a poor attempt to shield himself from the blow. A blow that never comes.

He cricks an eye open, inhaling sharply at the sight of Scott struggling to block Mystery Man’s hit in front of him, axe straining to cut through sword.

“Go!” Scott shouts, gritting his teeth as he digs his heels into the dirt, slipping a little as Mystery Man pushes him with the force of the blades.

Grian stumbles back, just in time for Scott to cry out and lose his footing, falling to the ground and having the wind knocked out of his lungs.

“Don’t take another step.” Mystery Man threatens, not even looking up to meet Lauren’s eyes as the galaxy-haired woman starts to rush forwards to save Scott.

Scott gasps for precious air, still struggling to breathe as Mystery Man pins him to the ground, digging the heel of their boot into his sternum.

“I suggest you all listen to me if you want to have even a tiny chance at Lizzie’s safety.” They say, a foul, evil way haunting their words.

Silence rings through the clearing, aside from heavy breathing and quiet angry growling from Yammy. No one moves from their spots, forcing themselves to freeze, despite all their instincts urging them to go, run,  _ fight! _

“Now that I have your attention, remember my words well.”

TFC and Grian lock eyes across the clearing where the older hermit is stopped behind the masked monster and Grian can immediately tell he is planning something. As Mystery Man shifts a little, TFC draws a crossbow as well as some rockets from his inventory, slowly and quietly loading it up.

“A path of gold or a path of souls shall be your choice, but if you choose not the proper way, by sundown you shall surely lose little Lizzie. Search top to bottom, but do not take too long.” Mystery Man says, their words just as sinisterly poetic as their written word.

Grian grimaces. His gaze flickers back to TFC, who starts to take aim and nods to Grian.

“You know, you’re so arrogant.” Grian says with a laugh, effectively drawing Mystery Man’s attention to him.

“Do you have a death wish, bird boy?” They growl, tightening their grip on their axe.

Grian shrugs and winks, crossing his arms over his chest in.

“Maybe, but it’s not like you’d be able to do much. You should really try keeping an eye on your surroundings.”

Mystery Man draws themself up to their full height in an attempt to intimidate Grian.

“And just what does that mean?” They ask in a snarl.

“It means, turn around.” TFC cuts in, grinning.

Mystery Man turns in confusion and anger, shouting out in surprise when TFC shoots the crossbow. They’re thrown back when bursts of bright pink and green explode in front of them from the fireworks, landing against a tree with loud thud.

Quickly, Lauren runs to Scott’s side, helping him to his feet and stagger away while everyone else resumes their fighting stances.

Mystery Man rasps out a laugh, pulling themself to their feet shakily.

“You idiots.”

And they disappear, leaving in their wake the smell of burnt onions and sugar behind and swearing from Grian.


	8. Chapter 8

It took quite a while for everyone to calm down from their anger and push away from the brink of mental breakdowns, but when they finally did, TFC speaks.

“I think I found the paths Mystery Man was talking about.”

Grian looks up from where he and Callum were calming Joel down and over to where TFC is stood on the edge of the clearing. Hidden behind some bushes that had been pushed aside were two pathways, one paved with pure gold and the other made entirely of soul sand.

“We have until sundown to find Lizzie, otherwise who knows what will happen to her, so we can only choose one path. Splitting up would cause us to spread too thin.” TFC says as Grian gets up to examine each pathway.

The one made of gold glitters in the midday sunlight and heads to the south, eventually petering out of sight as the horizon meets it. The one of soul sand head to the north and, even at the edge of the path, souls reach out to try to snatch at Grian’s ankles and grasp at the edges of his jeans.

“We should do a vote.” Grian suggests and the others nod in agreement.

“Alright, raise your hand for the golden path.” TFC says, looking out over the group to keep count on the votes.

Without hesitation, Shelby raises her hand and slowly Yammy as well.

“Soul sand?”

Scott’s hand shoots up and immediately, everyone else raises their hand as well. Grian couldn’t blame anyone for having more trust in the guy who has premonitions from the gods than their server admin, though.

“Then let’s go pack up our campsite before heading out. We need to be quick.” TFC says, already heading back to the camp.

* * *

Eventually the forest came to an end, but the path continued, running through a sunflower field and then a snowy plains.

The walk was quiet, everyone tense and their weapons always at hand, even when they took tiny breaks to eat the golden carrots that Grian was more than happy to provide. The anxiety in the air could’ve been cut with a wooden sword as the sun made its way through the sky, moving closer and closer to the edge of the horizon.

Shelby’s incessant whining about how she was so sure that the golden path was the right way and they were going to get Lizzie killed by continuing to go down this way really wasn’t helping everyone’s frustrations.

“Just shove it!” Joel eventually shouts, stopping dead in his tracks to whip around and glare at the shorter woman.

Shelby’s face darkens with anger for a flicker before shrinking down in fear.

Everyone stops to stare at the standoff happening before Joel sighs and his anger deflates.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it. I’m just really annoyed at all of this and I’m  _ so _ scared for Lizzie. You’re really not helping me keep calm by talking about how we totally messed up on our choice.” He murmurs, turning back to keep walking.

Shelby says nothing in response and keeps her head lowered, staring at the ground as she follows along, her hair a curtain concealing her face. Grian exchanges a concerned look with Callum, who shrugs and the rest continue walking as well.

“There’s something up ahead.” Lauren says quietly, as if afraid to break the silence that had resettled.

Grian follows the way she is pointing and blinks in surprise. Up ahead was the start of an extreme hills biome and, nestled between the snowy peaks of two mountains and guarded by a moat of water and lava that merge into a bridge of cobble and obsidian, was a stone castle.

“How in the world did we miss that?” Yammy asks.

Grian shakes his head and starts towards the castle. Internally, the builder side of his brain starts to critique the build. Too static, not any detailing other than trading out the stone bricks for mossy stone bricks and cracked stone bricks. Barely fifty blocks wide on the largest sections on any side, but much too tall to be proportional. One section of the outer wall wasn’t even finished and it looked like a creeper or two might have exploded nearby.

“This is a mess.” Scott chimes in from next to Grian, voicing his exact thoughts.

“Whoever Mystery Man is, building is not their forte.” Grian laughs softly, smiling a little when Scott raises a hand to cover the small grin that fights to overtake his face.

Footsteps thunk against obsidian as they all cross into the courtyard. Wither roses and cornflowers are scattered about, mycelium mixing with grass and more soul sand.

“Okay, how are we gonna search this place?” Callum asks, looking around anxiously with his arms crossed over his chest.

“I think it would be safe to split up now. The grounds are small, so it shouldn’t take too long if we group in pairs.” Yammy says, her ears pricked to attention as she scans the face of the castle.

Everyone makes some sound of agreement and they all start to pair off. Joel with Lauren taking the top floor, Shelby with Callum taking the middle floor, Scott with Grian taking the bottom floor, and Yammy with TFC taking the two guard towers out the back of the castle.

“Make sure your communicators are on and your weapons are where you can get them easily at all times. We meet back here in an hour and a half.” TFC says firmly, an aura of protective energy settling in his tone.

With that, they disperse and Scott and Grian enter the castle, immediately getting to work on searching for some sort of clue or hint as to where Lizzie is. They move through the first unlocked door and find themselves in a library.

“Maybe we could find something about Mystery Man too?” Scott suggests as they drift about, absentmindedly grabbing at books and glancing over titles on the leather-bound covers.

“Let’s just focus on Lizzie for now. If we have time, we can check back.” Grian says, looking around for anything that could possibly lead to their lost friend.

The room goes silent after that, aside from the crackle of the lit fireplace on the back wall and the shuffle of feet on carpet.

Grian glances behind him, watching as Scott diligently pulls books off shelves and flips through the pages before returning them to their original place. His teal hair seems so out of place from the last time Grian saw him. He had never thought Scott would be the kind of person to dye his hair some extreme color, but, if he’s being perfectly honest, Grian thinks it suits him. It really brings out his eyes. Everytime Scott moves and his hoodie gives way to skin on his stomach and arms, Grian can see the firm muscles moving underneath, another thing that he thought looked strange considering the last time Grian saw Scott, he had been a pudgy little teenager. It all felt surreal and, in the sudden lull in activity, Grian’s emotions catch up to him and he can’t figure out whether to cry or to be immeasurably angry at himself for missing Scott’s growth into a proper young adult.

Scott looks up and the two lock eyes, causing Grian to look away with an embarrassed blush at having been caught staring.

“Uh, by the way, thanks for saving me from Mystery Man back in the forest…” Grian says softly, as if afraid to break the quiet between them.

Scott stiffly nods, letting out a small breath.

“Well, I couldn’t let you die. You’re the only person on this server I trust to guide us where we need to go.” He says, his voice just as low.

Grian’s heart flutters a bit.

“You… You trust me?” He asks, turning back towards Scott with a hopeful look.

Scott nods again, refusing to look Grian in the eye.

“Even after all that stuff I said when I left..?”

Scott growls, making Grian flinch a little and look down at the dark oak planks and red carpeting under his feet. Gently, a hand comes to rest on his chin and lifts his head up. Dark eyes meet light and Grian shifts awkwardly.

“Grian, you are a fool. I know I’ve been acting like a complete and utter ass since we all arrived, but I do. I really do trust you. I know you only said those things when you left because you were scared and, as much as it hurt, I don’t hold it against you anymore. You’re one of my best friends.” Scott says, his voice firm and unwilling to take any arguments.

Grian’s eyes well with tears and before he can stop himself, he’s latched onto Scott like a koala bear, hugging him as tightly as he dares. Scott hesitates before wrapping his arms around Grian and returning the hug.

“I’m  _ so  _ sorry.” Grian eventually croaks out as he pulls back from the hug and wipes at his face.

Scott smiles softly and shushes Grian by running a hand through his dirty blonde hair in a calming manner.

“Everything’s okay now…” He murmurs.

The two take another few minutes to simply bask in each other’s company, finally oh-so happy that old wounds seemed to be healing and bridges seemed to be rebuilding between the two of them.

“C’mon, let’s get back to work.” Scott finally says, shattering the silence as he takes a step back away from the embrace, returning to the shelves.

Grian sighs softly at the loss of warmth from the hug, but nods, quickly returning to his own side of the library.

Curiously, he reaches towards the shelves, the title of a red bound book catching his attention between the volumes of well known fairy tales and tomes of technological nonsense.

_ Black Inferno _ .

However, just as the Brit starts to pull the thin book from its place, there’s a clicking and the buzz of working redstone fills his head. The shelf slides open otherwise soundlessly and the revealed corridor on the other side is dark, barely lit up with redstone torches.

“Scott! I found something!” Grian exclaims over his shoulder.

Scott is at his side in less than a moment and gapes at the secret passage.

“Well, that’s definitely not suspicious.” He says sarcastically.

The two draw their weapons in unison and Grian takes a spare torch from his inventory, helping to better light their way through the passage. The way down and through is tensely quiet, ears straining from any sound that isn’t the water rushing around them outside the tunnel or the occasional scitter of a spider.

Suddenly, the tunnel opens up into a medium-sized, circular room split into two halves by iron bars, no door in sight. The half of that Scott and Grian could move about freely in was minimalistically furnished with a crafting table, an empty cauldron, a brewing stand, and a small spattering of chests and multi-colored shulker boxes sorted much neater than Grian’s in his base. On the other side of the bars, it was bare, only holding a patch of hay on the ground with a bundle of thin and tattered red blankets thrown on top, a long wooden trough of water with the source flowing out of the wall, and lanterns hanging from the ceiling. On the back wall of the cell side of the room was a large window, also stopping anyone from getting out with more iron bars and a covering of vines on the outer side. In the sill of the window sits a silhouetted figure, hunched over and staring out the window, shoulders shaking slightly.

“Lizzie?” Scott asks, his voice quiet as he lowers his bow at the lack of threat.

The figure flinches at the sudden noise and turns their head with a gasp.

“Scott! Grian!” Lizzie shouts, her voice a mix of fear and relief.

She stumbles away from the window and towards the wall of bars, lacing her fingers through the empty spaces. Scott copies her motion, squeezing a hand through the bars to assure her that they’re really there. Her tear-streaked and bloodied face contorts as she lets out a small sob, all of the fear and pain that had built up while she had been captured finally bubbling to the surface with escape so close.

“Don’t worry, we’re gonna get you out of there.” Grian says, procuring a pickaxe form his inventory to strike at the bars.

“Wait!” Lizzie tries to shout, but it’s too late as the diamond hits the iron and a bloom of pure white magic sends him flying backwards, landing against the stone wall behind him.

Grian coughs, staggering to his feet as he looks at the now shattered pickaxe in his hands.

“What the actual  _ hell _  was that?” Scott asks, his tone obviously awestruck as he nervously eyes the iron bars.

Lizzie sighs, both of her hands come up to tug at her hair anxiously.

“It was Mystery Man, she put a spell on the bars to make it so nothing could break them until she took off the spell.” She says, nerves making her voice shaky.

Grian’s eyebrows knit together in confusion as he hobbles back over to stand in front of Lizzie and the wall of bars.

“Wait, ‘she’? Mystery Man is a woman?” He asks, throwing the remains of his pickaxe to the side in favor of paying attention to this important development.

Lizzie nods, but her expression looks a little unsure.

“Last night, Mystery Man came in here and I pretended to be asleep and I guess I was acting pretty well because she started to talk to herself as she made a potion and her voice didn’t sound like Britt’s, but still really feminine. I guess she was still wearing her mask because her voice was kinda muffled so I couldn’t make out what exactly she was saying.” She explains, her eyes cast downwards as she places herself back in her memories.

Grian and Scott share a look and Scott shakes his head as he turns away.

“C’mon, we need to get her out of there.” He whispers. “Try to find some other way in. I’ll stay with her so she can stay safe.”

Grian swallows the lump in his throat nervously, but nods. He turns around to survey the room, looking for any inconsistencies that might mean another secret passage or something.

The walls were pure stone, with the occasional mixture of mossy cobblestone to the floors, but nothing that would be able to hide a secret way. The chests on the right side of the room were arranged right against the walls, stacked on top of each other for three blocks before being leveled off with dark oak plank slabs. Shulker boxes on the left side of the room were less organized, but it almost seemed to be on purpose. Without a better idea on what to do, Grian ventures over and he is rewarded by a spot between two pink shulker boxes revealing a stone button that almost blends into the wall behind it, easy to miss on first glance if you’re not looking for it.

He presses the button experimentally and pistons loudly push open the wall, showing two hidden doors, one out of the cell and one of the inside.

The doors hold open long enough for Lizzie to come scurrying through, shutting just behind her. Without a word, she goes up to one of the the shulker boxes, a magenta one, and taps the top to open it, taking out her things as quickly as possible. She grips her sword fiercely, though Grian can still see the glint of fear in her hardened eyes.

Lizzie opens her mouth to say something, but then Scott’s communicator goes off, interrupting her thought.

He takes the device from his hoodie pocket and glances over the message he had received. His eyes widen as he does a double-take and re-reads it.

“Grian, I thought you said this world was purely vanilla.” He says, looking up with a shock stricken expression.

Grian’s gives a confused look and rounds on Scott to look at the communicator over his shoulder.

> _A Blood Moon is rising…_

Grian suddenly feels so sick to his stomach, his mind racing back to the times when he would be forced to take up refuge under the earth’s surface that was flooded with terrifyingly strong monsters and bathed in the same blood red light that earned the moon its name.

“We are vanilla… Maybe when you came here, it glitched the world and some things from your world came through…” Grian suggests, trying to keep his voice even.

Scott shrugs and returns the communicator to his pocket, his expression uneasy.

“Well, whatever the cause, we need to get out of here. This castle is horribly lit, making it the perfect mob spawner.”

Grian and Lizzie make some sounds of agreement and out they run through the secret passage and back into the library and then out into the courtyard. There, the others are already gathered, out of breath and just as bewildered about the situation.

Just as Lizzie runs out in front of Grian, she pauses. Across the courtyard, Joel is in the same state, his eyes wide and completely unsure if what he's seeing is really real or not. Suddenly, Joel breaks from stupor and takes off running, Lizzie following his lead. They meet in the middle, colliding into a tearful embrace full of loud sobs and quiet reassurances that the other is okay.

Everything seems okay, like things might finally get better, until Grian is harshly reminded of their deadly situation by the hiss of a creeper right behind him.


	9. Chapter 9

“Get down!” Lauren yells, readying her crossbow for an attack.

Grian immediately all but throws himself to the ground as the bolt goes flying over his head, burying itself in the bristly green creature stood poised to explode behind him, knocking it back several feet. The wound does little to stop the creeper’s charge towards him, though.

“We need to go! NOW!” TFC shouts, his dual-wielded pickaxes serving to cut into the flesh of the zombies who have started to stumble in through the castle gate.

Without hesitation, Grian launches himself into the air with a spam of rockets, Yammy and Scott following his lead while the others try to fight their way through the growing throng of monsters or build their way up the side of the outer walls. Eventually though, they all end up in the same place, holed up in the side of one of the mountains on either side of the castle, the front of the shallow cave they had found now blocked off with any spare blocks from everyone’s inventory. The room was silent, aside from everyone’s heavy breathing and the sound of monsters banging on the other side of the wall. Lauren managed to light up the cave with a combination of a few torches and her magick, small starlights dotting the roof and her hair floating and glowing around her head.

“Okay, head count.” Yammy eventually says, tersely breaking the almost-silence of the cave.

She counts over the group gathered, huddled in pairs to preserve warmth in the chilled cave, drawing confusion from everyone when she looks panicked and counts out again.

“There’s supposed to be nine of us here, but right now there’s only eight.” She says, licking her lips nervously. “Where’s Callum?”

Grian looks around anxiously, searching for the familiar splash of auburn fur. His panic sky-rockets and his heart plunges into his gut when he realizes Yammy is right. The fox man is nowhere to be seen.

“Crap, what do we do? There’s a Blood Moon happening and we’re not all exactly equipped to fight right now.” Shelby groans, standing from where she was with Scott to start to pace the length of the cave.

“We don’t have a choice. We have to go back and try to find him.” TFC says sternly, earning a small sigh and nod from Yammy.

“He’s right. We can’t just leave him out there. Callum’s important.” She murmurs.

And so out they go, careful not to alert the mobs who had started to calm down that they were exiting the safety of their cave and were headed out into crimson red night.

They called for the fox man as loudly as they dared, darting between hiding places in trees and in small holes when monsters drifted too close for comfort.

Scott’s voice began to sound ragged with unshed tears, fearing what might befall his close friend if they don’t get to him in time.

“Callum, please answer!” Lauren calls into the brush, her sword brandished in front of her in case the Enderman that was stumbling by decided to attack.

Suddenly, a soft shout in response, obviously a great distance away from them, but still alive and very much Callum.

Grian starts the line, taking off running towards where he heard the shouting. His head swims with anxiety and adrenaline as he pushes himself to run faster, hearing the others crashing around behind him.

The smell of campfire catches Grian off guard for a moment as he skids to a stop at the sight of a pastel blue woolen tent hidden on the edge of a swamp just on the other side of the mountains. A small array of weaponry is scattered about the tiny campsite, some stained with various colored bloods and others wiped clean of whatever heinous crime they were used to commit. On top of a barrel closest to the tent sits a porcelain mask, one that had been stolen from Cub or Scar. The smoke rises high from the campfire in the center of the camp, drifting away slightly in the breeze that’s kicked up. Jack o’lanterns were used to light up the edge of the camp, forming a circle around it and Grian can feel the soft tingle of magick in the air, causing him to suspect that the unusual light sources have a second use.

“CALLUM!” Scott all but screams, pushing Grian out of the way to bolt towards the bundle that Grian failed to see crumpled on the ground next to the fire.

Callum’s fur dances in the soft night wind, the deep orange very nearly hiding the gaping wound in his abdomen.

“Someone get a healing potion!” Grian yells to the stunned group, already trifling through his inventory to see if he has anything to stauch the bleeding.

Lizzie is quick to stumble forwards with a bottle of magenta, sparkling liquid. A potion of regeneration. Not the best, but clearly all they have from the way the others scramble for some way to help.

“Callum, I swear to the gods, you better not die on me.” Scott chokes out as he takes the offered potion from Lizzie and cradles his friend’s head in his lap.

Callum laughs weakly before it turns into a cough with a wince, a hand coming up to grab at his wound.

“I can’t promise anything, Scott….”

“Did Mystery Man do this?” TFC asks softly, despite already knowing the obvious answer.

Callum gives a small nod as Scott helps him to down the potion.

“I got separated from you guys when we were running from the castle and they attacked me and dragged me here.” Callum says, his chest rising and falling in quick succession as if out of breath.

The campsite went quiet after that and the tension in the air was as thick as smoke.

Grian looks away from Scott and Callum for a moment, surveying the ragged group now patrolling the camp. Lizzie and Joel were examining the weapons closest to the campfire, Yammy, Lauren and TFC had taken to keeping an eye on the outer edge of the camp for mobs or the return of Mystery Man, and Shelby was standing a little further away, staring at Callum and Scott, her hand clenched tightly around the grip of her sword and shaking in, assumably, anger.

“Uh, guys?” Scott’s voice weakly calls for attention.

Grian’s gaze snaps back to the two, his gut flip-flopping at the violent coughing that Callum lets out.

“The bleeding isn’t stopping.”

As if in slow-motion, Grian follows Scott’s ogling stare down to Callum’s abdomen and bile rises in his throat when he sees Callum’s horribly blood-matted fur, orange and white blending and staining into red.

Callum coughs again, tears slipping down his face as he comes to terms with exactly what’s going to happen. A sob rips itself from Scott’s throat, the cyan-haired man burying his face into the crook of Callum’s neck. Slowly, Callum’s arms come up to embrace Scott.

“Please don’t go.” Scott rasps out, the pure emotion in his voice heart-breaking.

Instead of trying to calm Scott from his growing hysterics, Callum retracts himself from the cyan-haired man’s grip and procures a small package wrapped in golden paper and tied off with a white bow from his inventory. He offers it out to Scott, who hesitantly takes it, wiping at his tears with the back of his hand.

“Scott, I don’t think I’ll be returning anytime soon. Keep living for me, please…” Callum says, his voice cracking and uneven.

“NO! You’re going to be just fine! You’re going to heal and we’ll be able to go back to One Life and prank Jack and just be friends! You don’t get to leave!” Scott shouts, throwing the small package to the ground to scold his friend through his tears.

Callum smiles sadly and simply shakes his head, bringing one hand up to brush some of Scott’s hair back behind his ear.

“ _ I’m sorry... _ ”

And then his head rolls to the side, his hand falling limply to the ground with a muffled thump.

> _ seapeekay died _

An anguished scream rips through the world and Scott collapses forwards onto the bloody grass where Callum just was, intense sobs racking through his entire body.

Grian immediately rushes forwards, wrapping Scott into a hug, trying to push down his own grief and tears. Scott accepts comfort for only a moment before something in him snaps and he shoves Grian away from him, his misty eyes boiling with a fiery glare.

“This is your fault!! It’s your fault he’s gone!!”

Grian stumbles, his heart racing.

“Wh-What..? How is this  _ my _ fault..?” He murmurs, his tone hurt and shaky.

Scott growls, snatching up the small package that Callum had given him and clutching it close to his chest as he stumbles to his feet.

“If you had never left, Mystery Man never would have followed you and you never would have called us and then Callum would still be alive!” He sobs, brushing Lauren off when she bolts forward to comfort him.

Grian blinks, guilt pooling in his stomach as his blood runs cold.

“We don’t know that! Mystery Man could’ve struck and killed him- or any of us- at any point if we stayed as sitting ducks back home!” He exclaims, his hands clenching into fists at his sides.

Scott laughs humorlessly.

“At least Callum would be here instead of you!”

Everything goes silent, aside from Scott panting for breath after his outburst and the sound of Grian’s heart pounding in his ears. Tears slide down Grian’s face before he can stop them and he shakes as he turns away.

“Fine! If you don’t want me here, I’ll go stop Mystery Man on my own!” He yells, making a move to run out of the campsite in a huff, but he is stopped in a hurry by running face first into a chilling grey field surrounding the camp from the jack-o'-lanterns.

“What in the fuck?!”  Lauren yells, pushing aside her grief for just a moment to jump to attention, holding her sword tightly.

Everyone struggles to follow her lead and TFC spins on his heel when he hears a malicious laugh suddenly from behind him, swinging his weapon of a pickaxe on instinct. He stumbles back when a familiar cloaked being catches the pick on the blade of their axe and throws him back.

“Aww, did someone lose their little friend?” Mystery Man asks, their voice horrible and patronizing.

Scott lets out a battle cry and rushes at Mystery Man, tackling them to the ground. He quickly draws a fist back and swings with all his might at their face, cracking their mask loudly. Mystery Man struggles under him, trying to get him off of them as Scott takes swing after swing at their face, sobbing the entire time.

“I hate you!!! I hate you!! I HATE YOU!!” Scott screams as loud as he can into the peaceful night.

Mystery Man huffs as they finally manages to throw Scott off of them, his body flying through the air like a ragdoll until he crashes into the tent, the fabric collapsing around his unconscious form.

Grian’s eyes widen as he watches before they narrow as he turns to Mystery Man, his sword drawn threateningly.

Mystery Man- their face now disguised as the familiar mask of Britt- grins menacingly and raises an eyebrow at Grian.

“What? Got a bone to pick, bud?” They tease condescendingly.

Grian’s grip on his sword tightens in frustration and he takes a step forward, pointing the business end of his sword right under Mystery Man’s chin, their face smug.

“Show us who you really are…” Grian snarls, his anger making the worst of him.

Mystery Man’s smug expression multiples tenfold.

“I don’t think you’re ready for that, bud.”

All of a sudden, a loud CRACK! Resounds through the campsite and, in the aftermath, there is suddenly a circle of familiar faces with glowing golden eyes surrounding the group.

“Do you have any idea how easy it is to pretend to be one of you?” ‘Britt’ asks, bear-like fangs peeking through her sinister grin.

“After all, there are  _ soooo _ many loose threads over the seasons!~” ‘Mariel’ sing-songs, her accented voice making it sound so sickeningly sweet.

The circle begins the move, circling around the group like predators to prey.

“Y’know, some of us might not even be dead.” ‘Stacy’ says with a yawn, her form flickering to show the horrible chunks of flesh missing from her body from the night of her death.

“None of you can tell the real deal from a fake!” ‘Oli’ laughs, resting his hands behind his back and stepping in the same overconfident manner as the real man in the panda hat.

Grian’s mind races as Mystery Man keeps monologing in his friend’s voices. The smell of illusions hangs heavy through the campsite, to a horribly sickening point. Grian’s watches as each glowing-eyed clone moves, all seeming like perfect copies until he spots the difference.

Almost every single figure taunting them was wavering ever-so-slightly, barely noticeable, and Grian grins as he spots one clone, one disguised as Netty, perfectly solid. Subtly, he nudges Yammy directly to his left with his elbow and gestures with a small nod to the Netty clone and Yammy narrows her eyes. With no warning, the cat-woman draws her bow from her belt and lets an arrow fly towards the fake Netty’s head.

The anthropomorphic bush-baby flinches and dodges to the left, all the clones disappearing from lack of concentration on the spell and their disguise melts away, back into Britt and their cloak, and gives a cruel chuckle.

“Clever little birdie…” They say in an almost proud way that makes Grian shudder.

Scott groans as he starts to come to, Joel and Lauren both immediately breaking to his side to help him and protect him, but Mystery Man just rolls their eyes.

“If I wanted to kill him, I would have killed him instead of that dumb fox.” They say, grinning sadistically at the furious expressions that they’re able to draw out.

“You’re gonna regret that.” TFC says, his voice so terrifying calm that even Mystery Man can’t help but flinch a little.

“Oh really? How so, old man?” They ask in a sneer

TFC chuckles lowly and points downwards, causing Mystery Man to confusedly look down and then cry out in surprise as spikes of cobblestone come hurtling out of the ground. The sharp ends of the spikes just barely catch the edge of Mystery Man’s cloak, causing rips in the material as they dodge and roll.

Mystery Man stumbles as they catch themselves and they grin.

“The chase is on, wouldn’t you say?”

And before anyone can react to their words, Mystery Man hightails into the swamp, causing everyone to quickly bolt after them.

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr: bishipsaremyships  
> Mineblr: enby-enderdragon  
> One Life discord server: https://discord.gg/3TAcamY


End file.
